By 
BrianHeM10 (1228022520|%a, %b %e at %I:%M%p)
Have you ever felt Google was too broad a tool to use? Did receiving 1,200,000 results about a topic seem daunting to browse? That is the solution that custom search engines bring! Essentially, the SaaS Search Engine was created to focus on retrieving information about SaaS topics from websites and news sites related to the industry. That way, all the results you receive are relevant and come from similar sources. The SaaS Search Engine was built using Google Custom Search Engine - a tool that lets you wittle down Google's massive index of websites into whatever you like. I am going to briefly mention how the search engine was made and then look at how useful the search results of the Search Engine are.
Building the SaaS Search Engine
- Basics
- Name
- Description
- Keywords (Default Search Queries)
- Sites (Content to Search)
- Look and Feel
- Make Money (Add AdWords)
The sites used to create the SaaS Search Engine were:
- Webware.com - Frequently updated blog on SaaS applications
- Mashable.com - Ditto
- CNet.com - Comprehensive technology news sites
- ZDnet.com - Sister site to CNet
- Amazon.com - Part of the SaaS 4
- Microsoft.com - Part of the SaaS 4
- SalesForce.com Part of the SaaS 4
- Google-Watch.com - News site dedicated to watching Google
- Microsoft-Watch.com - News site dedicated to watching Microsoft
How Useful is the SaaS Search Engine
It is very difficult to classify what is “useful” or what is not. Since the sites/content was chosen by me, it is pretty obvious that at least the overwhelming majority of the search results will be relevant. However, I will try to enter in some different queries and go through what the SaaS Search Engine returns.
- Enterprises and SaaS (ZDnet)
- Cloud Computing as a Term (ZDnet)
- Amazon EC2
- CC to Improve Data Centers (CNet)
- Microsoft Cloud Computing's Vision)
- Image Search on iPhone (CNet)
- Bring Your Own Image Search (CNet)
- Cool Web Apps for Everyone (CNet)
- Flickr Yahoo Image Search (Mashable)
- Magnify Video Search (Mashable)
- Google Tests Image Ads (CNet)
- 10 Things to Know About Live Mesh (ZDnet)
- Making Sense of Live Mesh (CNet)
- Why Google Should Care About Live Mesh (ZDnet)
- Microsoft Opens Up Live Mesh (CNet)
- Live Mesh to Get More Competition (CNet)
- Microsoft Building a Suite of Live Mesh Apps (ZDnet)
- Live Mesh Mobile (Microsoft)
- Google Apps for Business
- SuccessFactors Plugs into Google Apps (ZDnet)
- SalesForce Links Up with Google Apps (CNet)
- SalesForce for Google Apps
- Microsoft Swipes at Google Apps
- Google Gears Brings Google Apps Offline
Comments: The results I received when entering these queries were extremely satisfying. As time goes on and more sites are added to the SaaS Search Engine, this can become an extremely valuable tool to find new information about the SaaS industry. My only complaint is that Google's custom search engine software only relates to web search (not Blog, Image, News, etc).
